Stock support for machines



June 20, 1950 M. KHOLOS 2,512,335

STOCK SUPPORT FOR MACHINES Filed May 51, 1946 Z, n l a? 22 if ll I /4 l 1/ 1 j 24 23 5X /0 3 l 5 17 I .9 6 /Z l V fiyz J WITNESSES: 5: S INVENTOR flax K/zalos. Z20- ATTORNEY Patented June 20, 1950 2,512,335 STOCK SUPPORT FOR MACHINES Max Kholos, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May a1, 1946, Serial No. 673,699 2 Claims. (01. 29-58) My invention relates to noise reducing devices and more particularly to noise reducing stock supports for automatic screw machines.

In automatic screw machines as heretofore in use, the work piece, or stock, is supported in a steel tube to hold the stock in alignment with the operating elements of the automatic screw machine, or similar machine, performing an operation on the stock. The stock supporting tube is supported rigidly on brackets of the machine or on standards having a' fixed relation to the machine operating on the stock.

The machining operation on the end of the stock causes the free end of the stock rod to whip about in the tube and since the stock rod and tube and the air confined therein are excellent sound producing devices, the entire operation is extremely noisy. The noise is so extreme that it constitutes a menace to the health and comfort not only to those of the workmen assigned to operate these screw machines but a menace to the comfort and health of the entire personnel working in the same factory shed.

One broad object of my invention is to reduce the operating noise of machines.

A more specific object of my invention is to reduce the noise of automatic screw machines.

I am aware that previous attempts have been made by others to reduce the operating noise of automatic screw machines. In one such prior attempt a lead helix is disposed in the stock tube about the stock rod. Some small noise reduction is thereby attained. The noise reduction thus obtained is by no means enough to constitute a solution of the problem. Further, other practical and commercial considerations make the use of a lead helix very unsatisfactory.

In another attempt to reduce the noise, rawfhide rings were tried both inside the stock tube and about the stock tube withsome very limited success.

In still another attempt, a rawhide hammock construction, in a general way somewhat similar to the structural details I disclose hereinafter, is used, but the noise reduction is still far from satisfactory. The attendants were not satisfied first because the noise remaining is still on a level too high for comfort, and second because rawhide deteriorates very rapidly both as a noise absorbent and mechanically when the leather becomes saturated with oil. The use of oil cannot be avoided.

It is, therefore, also an object of my invention to provide a noise absorbent device that is cheap, has a long mechanical life, and above all provides for more silencing eifect than obtained heretofore.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following specification when made in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a part of an automatic screw machine provided with my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view, on a larger scale, of my invention, taken on section line IIII of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, the automatic screw machine M is shown provided with a bracket I for adjustably receiving the vertically disposed standard 2. Another standard 3, resting on or secured to the shop floor, is so disposed with reference to the machine M that the stock rod R, disposed in the stock tube 4 supported on standard 3, is in proper alignment with the elements of machine M which perform an operation on the stock rod R.

In selecting the stock tube 4, I depart from former practice and do not select just any kind of steel pipe that may happen to be about a shop.

The stock tube used is an electric conduit tube, of suitable diameter to match the stock rod, of the type ordinarily used by electricians for housing electric wires. Electricians frequently find it necessary to bend these electric conduits into various shapes. To facilitate such deformation the manufacturers of electric conduits make them of a steel and lead alloy. Other metals besides iron and lead may be present. These electric conduits are wear resistant, cheap, and have a dead beat characteristic which characteristic has no significance for the electrician.

I take advantage of the dead beat characteristic of these tubes and in my combination this type of stock tube constitutes one step in the solution my apparatus provides.

The vertical standards 2 and 3 are provided with loop-like upper end constructions 5 and 6, or similarly functioning overhanging hooks, for receiving theslotted sleeve 1. The sleeve 1 has a slot 8 at its bottom running the full length of the sleeve I.

To supply the stock tube 4 with a supporting hammock extending over substantially the full length of the stock tube, I fold a two-ply cotton belt 9 longitudinally and dispose the stock tube 4 in the bottom of the fold. By means of suitable clips as Ill, II and I2 spaced every few feet along the tube and bolted firmly about the stock tube 4 by means of bolts l3, l4 and I5, I obtain a sturdy yet pliable hammock for the tube 4.

At the matching edges [8 and H of the two-ply belt, I firmly stitch, rivet or bolt strips l8 and I!) of leather, or almost firm rubber, Wood or similar other material. These strips, once the upper edge of the hammock is inserted in the sleeve 1 as shown, provide a support for the tube 4 that extends over the full length of tube 4.

I have found two-ply cotton belting the most satisfactory but a single ply, or belting with more than two ply may be used. The two-ply belt appears to be the best selection, since its noise reducing properties are the best. Its mechanical or strength characteristics are also in favor of this selection.

Cotton belting, particularly of the type selected, appears to be the best for the purpose. In comparison tests made of my combination with reference to a stock tube support provided with no silencing means, revealed that my combination effected a 87.5% reduction in the noise.

It might also be noted that the remaining 12.5% noise is no more than a low mufiied growl almost devoid of any annoyance to the human ear, whereas the noise of the unsilenced machine is a combination of a high pitch scream and. a group of discordant high and low pitch bellsvery annoying to the human ear.

In comparing my combination, or apparatus, with a rawhide hammock, having generally similar construction to the construction I have shown, and constituting the very best silencing equipment heretofore known, it Was found that my apparatus effected very near 30% more noise reduction. Furthermore, this reduction effected by my apparatus is entirely in the range of noises all very unpleasant to the human ear. This improvement alone constitutes a valuable contribution to the art, but in' addition my apparatus, as against the best similar apparatus heretofore known, has a very considerable lower initial cost, has a very much longer mechanical life, and does not suffer chemical decomposition when saturated with oil.

The sleeve 1 is provided with a longitudinally adjustable clamping mechanism 20 so that both the sleeve 1 and tube 4 are held in proper relation to the machine. The sleeve 7 is provided with end caps 2| and 22 to prevent longitudinal shifting of the hammock and tube 4. The tube 4 is provided with annular end elements 23 and 24 designed to facilitate insertion of the stock rod R.

While I have shown and described but one embodiment as applied to an automatic screw machine, I do not wish to be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed nor to the particular ap plication described but wish to be limited only by the scope of the claims hereto appended.

I claim as my invention:

1. A noise reducing support for a work piece in the shape of an elongated rod, or pipe, on which a machine performs an operation at one end, in combination, means for supporting the other end of the work piece which has a tendency to whip about, said means comprising a stock tube of iron and lead alloy to give it a dead heat characteristic disposed about the free end of the work piece, an elongated strip of sound-deadening cotton belting material folded longitudinally about the stock tube so that its edges are substantially in registry, and holding means for supporting the registering edges of the sound-deadening material to thus support the stock rod and thus the work piece in operative relation to the machine operating on the work piece, said holding means including elongated somewhat flexible enlarging members secured along the non-contiguous registering edges of the material, a split sleeve into which said enlargin members are longitudinally inserted, mean for holding the sound-deadening material in contact with substantially the entire cylindrical surface of the stock tube, and means for supporting the split sleeve in such relation to the machine that the elongated work piece may be moved 1ongitudinally into the machine.

2. In apparatus for supporting an elongated work piece, or stock rod, in position to be operated upon at one end by an automatic screw machine, or similar machine, in combination, a stock tube comprising a continuous, as distinguished from slotted or perforated, hollow cylinder Within which the stock rod is longitudinally disposed during operation of the machine on one end of the stock rod, said stock tube being made of an iron and lead alloy, known-in the trade as an"electric conduit, having a dead beat characteristic, an elongated strip of woven cotton belting material folded lengthwise about the stock tube and over the full length of the stock tube so that the longitudinal edges are in registry, elongated enlarging members of Slightly rubberlike material secured to the non-contiguous surfaces of the registering edges of the cotton belting material, a split sleeve having a slit at the bottom thereof running the full length of the sleeve and having a transverse width slightly greater than the double thickness of the belting material, said enlarging members being disposed longitudinally within the sleeve so as to support the longitudinal midportion of the belting material and the stocktube about which the belting material is folded in a hammock-like manner longitudinally of the slit in the sleeve, a plurality of clips disposed in spaced relation-along the stock tube for firmly holding the belting material in contact with the stock tube over substantially the entire outer cylindrical surface of the stock tube, and means for fixing the-sleeve in such relation to the machine for operating on one end of the stock rod so that the stock rod may move longitudinally into the machine.

MAX KHOLOS.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

